Trying to win over critics, prove he's a good captain, can't be his focus, Damien Cox writes. Just be the player he's been this season.

ANN ARBOR--Now the Maple Leafs just need Dion Phaneuf to respond to his new deal like Phil Kessel did to his.

See, the Leafs don't need Phaneuf to do a great deal more than he's done already this season now that he's officially been locked with a seven-year contract extension, set to be announced at a press conference this afternoon.

Just keep doing the same things. Be remarkably durable. Run one of the league's best power plays. Kill all the penalties with a unit that should improve again with Tyler Bozak back winning a few faceoffs. Play against the other team's best players night after night, which Phaneuf has done well enough to earn a plus-13 rating in 39 games this season.

Just keep doing that in the same way that Kessel, after scoring his big deal on the eve of the season, has continued to be essentially the same player he was before he signed. He had 37 goals in 82 games two years ago, 20 in 48 last year, and has 20 in 41 this season after becoming an $8 million man.

Like we've said for a while, this is a guy who, love him or hate him, could score 30-plus goals falling out of bed.

Phaneuf's job, of course, is somewhat more complex, particularly as it is intricately entwined with the task of being team captain. You only have to go back to his predecessor, Mats Sundin, and his years of hearing how he wasn't fiery enough to wear the "C," to understand how unforgiving a job this is.

Darryl Sittler, don't forget, ripped the "C" off his jersey. Dave Keon was allowed to escape to the WHA. Rick Vaive scored goals and played hard, but he played on bad teams and thus never gets fair recognition when it comes to noting the accomplishments of past Leaf captains.

So it's almost organic (the most overused word these days, right?) that he who wears the captain's insignia in Toronto is going to be found wanting, and chasing acceptance for doing that job in just the right way is a complete waste of time.

Those who dislike this Phaneuf deal seem to do so because they want him to be something more than he is. A better leader (like Mark Messier). A better defender (like Rod Langway). A better offensive defenceman (like Brian Leetch). A more willing pugilist (like Shawn Thornton). A more engaging personality (like Jeremy Roenick). More of a, you know, Saskatchewan-type lad (like Wendel Clark).

Simply being a very good defenceman, one of the top 20 or so in the NHL, isn't enough to these people, and never will be.

Just as Sundin being Sundin was never enough.

The key for Phaneuf, then, will be to recognize that, and just keep doing the things he does. At 28, he can still improve at both ends of the ice. He and his agent positioned him perfectly for this pay day - he had all the leverage in the negotiations - but now he needs to be that rock solid piece of the foundation the contract says he must be.

But to be the player that "leads" the Leafs somewhere - the club has a winning record since Phaneuf arrived from Calgary - he's going to have to get better teammates to play with and lead, and that's out of his control.

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